


Meconopsis

by asingularblueberry



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Flowers, Gen, Keith & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), broganes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 01:43:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14509752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asingularblueberry/pseuds/asingularblueberry
Summary: Keith steals some flowers off a lawn after a cloudy day and too many emotions.





	Meconopsis

Keith walked down the barren street. With both earbuds in, his head turned down, and a heavy black jacket pulled snugly around his shoulders, he trudged along the sidewalk. Passersby gave stares of concern and sympathy. They had no idea what he felt, how he felt, why he felt. They couldn’t. But Keith knew. And he hated it.

Out of the corner of his eye, something came into his vision. Blue flowers on the edge of a well-maintained garden. They were stunning. Keith quickened his pace to approach the flowers. Shiro taught him a lot about flowers, him being a botanist and all. The best times were when he let Keith sit in on his lectures even though he didn’t go to the university. Keith recognized the blossoms as his brother, Shiro’s, favorite- Himalayan Blue Poppies. 

He leaned toward the flowers, smelling their sweet scent. Keith recalled a lecture Shiro once let him listen in on a few months prior. He had no idea Keith recorded the whole thing. Parts of it he had memorized by now. Keith quickly pulled up the audio file on his phone and listened as Shiro’s familiar voice described the wonder before him.

“My favorite flower? Well, I’d have to say it’s the meconopsis betonicifolia- the Himalayan Blue Poppy. They’re very rare, mostly due to their specific needs for survival. Geographically, they’re not only hard to grow, but in many places impossible, unless in a specially controlled greenhouse. However, this only seems to make them more attractive to people. Explorer Frank Kingdon-Ward once wrote, ‘The flowers flutter out from amongst the sea-green leaves like blue and gold butterflies.’ I certainly agree with this description. In fact, I’m starting to grow some in the campus greenhouse! I want to see them in person someday. They are beautiful.”

Keith looked up and wiped at his face. The Seattle sky was crying. He had to keep walking if he was going to get there in time. It would be rude to show up without bringing something for his brother. Without a second thought, he drew his engraved pocket knife and meticulously cut a few of the delicate flowers, tying them with a ribbon he found on the ground. Perfect.

The trip there was easy, but it was on the way back that hurt. The rain was starting to pick up and unfortunately Keith had no cover. He managed to hail a cab before it got too bad. While inside, he reminisced about the time spent with his brother. He wanted to turn around and run back to him, but the cab was too far gone. He was too far gone.

The week passed slowly. As visiting Shiro was only a weekly thing, to Keith, every weekday passed slowly. But this one felt exhaustingly slow. Time creeped by as Keith sat in classroom after classroom, worked shift after shift. He spent hours upon hours distracting himself from even the very thought of his brother. It proved to be a tedious and unsuccessful attempt with each day growing more frustrating than the last. When Saturday’s sun shone her beams on his face, he was ready.

Keith began his walk from his home to Shiro’s. He had missed him for so long, just the thought of being with him again gave Keith a dash of motivation. He quickened his pace. Then he saw them again- the poppies in their blue glorious state, just like the pictures Shiro had shown him. Except these flowers were real.

Keith hesitated for a second. Sure, the lawn seemed to have so many of these flowers, but they looked to be well cared for. Sure, they were Shiro’s favorite, but he wouldn’t want him to hurt such a rare species. Keith fell into a great mental debate, snapped out by a sharp tapping on his shoulder. He spun around to be faced with an angry teen holding a pair of garden shears in one hand and a hose in the other.

“¿Qué demonio crees que estás haciendo?” he shouted, waving his finger in Keith’s face. “Huh, you punk? Get off my flowers! Do you even know what these ar-”

“Himalayan blue poppies. Very rare and hard to take care of. I know,” stated Keith flatley. He looked closely at the boy’s face, vaguely recognizing him from some of Shiro’s lectures.

“Then I presume you also know that stealing is a crime? Trespassing?” he scowled. 

“I know. I’m going. Sorry...” Keith nearly whispered.

“NO, NO YOU’RE NOT!” he paused for a second to think. He continued again, more restrained this time.

“We’re going straight to the university to find more, if they even have any. I’ve been growing these all year and I’m not going to wait another one just to see them in full bloom. If they don’t have any, you’re paying for new seeds, soil, plant hormones, and anything else I need.”

Keith was taken aback. The university? Shiro worked there. He couldn’t go there.

“No, no I don’t think you understand what kind of situation I’m in. Do you even know who I am?” Keith rhetorically asked.

“Yes, I do actually- you’re Keith, Professor Shirogane’s brother. You’re Keith and I’m Lance. You sat in the back of the room occasionally. I was always in the front. We talked sometimes after his lectures. So yeah, I do know you.”

Keith stumbled around his words, trying to think of an escape. He didn’t want to go back, but he felt really bad about taking the flowers. Maybe of he explained why to Lance-

“Uh, hello?? I’m waiting. We’re going. Right now!” Lance fumed. 

“Oh uh… okay,” Keith stuttered, before he was ushered hastily into the passenger’s side of the car.

\---------

They got into the greenhouse without trouble. Keith hated that. He had subtly hoped that someone would see him being dragged through the halls and stop them. Or maybe that some random security guard would recognize him and chase after them thinking, “Oh wait, he doesn’t go here! Stranger danger!” But unfortunately, he had no such luck. They arrived at the greenhouse.

Lance squeezed Keith’s hand tighter and lead him father into the greenhouse. His heart started to beat faster and faster as they passed row after row of flora.

Tulips- red, orchid, purple. Daisies- white, yellow, pink. Chrysanthemums- green, orange, lavender. Poppies- red, orange…

Blue.

Lance stopped abruptly and gazed, awestruck. Keith stared at Lance, waiting for some sort of cue to leave. He slowly unraveled his fingers from between Lance’s and backed away. In his hurried wander, he knocked over a planter of blooming petunias. Lance snapped out of his stupor and glared over his shoulder at Keith.

“You’re not going anywhere until you see these flowers,” Lance hissed.

Keith scuttled back by Lance’s side. He reluctantly focused on the flowers. They were beautiful. Of course he’d seen them (particularly on Lance’s garden), but they were even nicer like this. The greenhouse was humid, but pleasantly so. It smelled of bright, fresh flowers and new potting soil. The light streaming in from outside was warm and thick. Keith soaked up the atmosphere around him and relaxed slightly. 

His moment of peace didn’t last long. His muscles tensed up slightly as he realized where he was. Shiro taught here- he didn’t belong. He tugged on Lance’s sleeve to hurry him along. He had been there far too long as is. Keith visibly cringed and turned inwards on himself. Lance turned to face his panicked friend.

“Hey… what’s wrong? Keith?” Lance trailed off.

Lance made an attempt to pull Keith closer to him, but he flinched and pulled away. He cautiously stepped back.

“I think we should go now.”

Keith nodded and pulled him through the rows of flowers. They rushed down the corridors of the small university. Lance diverted his attention for a second by conveniently tripping on his shoelace. Keith was confused but Lance’s concerned look tipped him off. He stared ahead of him. 

Shiro’s class.

He turned and sprinted down the hall towards the bathroom. Throwing open the door, he lunged into the nearest stall, leaving Lance in his wake. He locked the door and slid down against the wall. He heard the door reopen and slam shut. Keith silently shook and fought back anxious tears. Outside, he could almost hear Lance thinking about what to say as he paced along the tiled floor. Lance knocked on the stall’s door.

“Hey… I’m so sorry. I should have known this was a bad idea… I just thought-”

“What did you think? That bringing me here would make everything better? That it would make things okay again? Things won’t ever be fucking okay again,” Keith snapped bitterly.

“Keith!”

Keith took a second to calm himself. He placed his hands on the walls and slowly rose to his feet. The world around him started to stabilize as he stood up. He opened the door only to find Lance leaning against the wall in front of him. He threw himself into his open arms and began to tear up again. Lance held the sobbing boy and eased them both onto the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” Lance whispered into Keith’s shoulder. Keith clung on tighter.

The drive back was next to silent. The radio was playing but everything that came on just sounded to gibberish to Keith. He looked out of the window and let his eyes glaze over. Periodically, he could see Lance look over at him from the corner of his eye. But no contact was made between them. Friendly contact at least.

“Where should I drop you off?” Lance gently questioned.

“Anywhere away from you,” Keith responded coolly. Lance turned back towards the road. Keith’s surroundings grew hazy. He slowly drifted off.

About an hour later, he awoke to the sound of the car’s engine shutting off.

Home, finally. Get me away from this idio-

He wasn’t home. This was the last place he wanted to be now, or ever again for that matter. Lance opened the door and undid Keith’s seatbelt as he sat there, motionless. He had been going here on such a regular basis. So why was this time so painful?

“We’re gonna go see your brother. No stolen poppies this time. I’ve actually been growing these… for him. I didn’t think that I would actually ever...” Lance trailed off.

Keith stepped out of the car and closed the door behind him. Lance reached into the back seat and pulled a bouquet of scarlet-red poppies. Keith stared at the flowers.

“Poppies,” he said in utter disbelief.

“Poppies,” Lance replied.

Lance looped his arm through Keith’s. The pair started the journey across the yard to Shiro. It didn’t take long, but for Keith, it felt like a century. Each step felt like stone across the blanket of solid soil.

They reached their destination. Keith collapsed to his knees and Lance crouched down next to him. The two sat huddled together for a few moments before Lance pulled them over to a bench. Keith held his head in his hands and sobbed. Lance pulled him closer, still holding the flowers. Keith took the flowers out of his hands and stood up shakily. He hesitantly walked over to where they had sat only minutes prior and carefully placed the bundle down. Lance paced behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. As Keith started to walk away, he turned around and called to mind one of Shiro’s lectures about poppies.

“Poppies are an interesting flower. They blend in on the surface, but they have a great significance. Like most flowers, their meaning is poetic. Unfortunately, it’s not the sort of poetic sense I want any of you to use. Poppies represent sleep, more particularly eternal sleep. However, they are not a violent flower. Poppies represent a peaceful death. They are not usually found at funerals, despite how fitting they may be. They are more often found around mourning parties. At a funeral, there may be… lilies, per say, but when visiting the grave, you may find poppies.”

And sure enough, there they were. A mass of poppies atop a grave. Shiro’s grave. Withered white, orange, and purple flowers lay strewn across the ground. On top of the others was a familiar bouquet of meconopsis betonicifolia; Himalayan Blue Poppies.

**Author's Note:**

> This is based off a tumblr post I found online (I forget the original poster- I'm so sorry aaaa) and it sorta progressed from there. Also, my Spanish is garbage, feel free to correct it in the comments and I will fix it. And finally, I am not a botanist. All my knowledge of these plants comes from a few online articles which I will link in the comments if anyone is interested.


End file.
